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DAVID MCKEOWN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Water spills over the Kernsville Dam on Friday in Tilden Township. No longer used for desilting, the state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking funding to remove the dam.

DAVID MCKEOWN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Water spills over the Kernsville Dam on Friday in Tilden Township, Berks County.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has requested a $10.8 million line item in the capital budget legislation for the removal of the Kernsville Dam in Tilden Township, Berks County.

“The Rock,” a popular jumping destination, sits on the Tilden Township side of the Schuylkill River.

“There has been money in the budget for dam removal — base project allocation of $9 million plus $1.8 million design and contingency,” Neil Shader, press secretary for the DEP, wrote in an email Monday.

The budget has not been approved yet, so any finalized decisions have not been made.

The structure, formerly a desilting dam, is closed to the public. However, the area is popular, with visitors coming to the area to walk the trails and jump off the cliffs. The two adjacent cliffs, one 20 feet and the other 50 feet above the water, have no official name but are usually called “The Rock” or “Peace Rock” due to a peace sign spray-painted on the side. The natural diving platform sticks out over a bend in the river, upstream from the Kernsville Dam.

Jumping off the rock is trespassing, as “use of the property alongside near the river, including The Peace Rock, the dam, the beach areas, is considered trespassing, except to provide portage around the Kernsville Dam. There are features on the properties at Kernsville Dam that present hazards to unauthorized persons. Boaters are allowed to use the river, aside from the area immediately before and after the dam, in accordance with PA Fish and Boat Commission rules and regulations,” Shader said previously.

The Bartram Trail , a walking trail, is still accessible. The first lot (where the monument for the Kernsville Dam is) is still open for parking.

Christine Verdier, chief of staff for Sen. David Argall, R-29, Rush Township, said Monday she received an email previously from DEP chief counsel Alex Chiaruttini about the request. Verdier said the email included a line item request from the capital facilities fund and includes “a $9 million project allocation and $1.8 million in design and contingency to eliminate the public safety hazards associated with the Kernsville Dam including full removal of the dam, all pertinent structures and all associated earthwork,” Verdier said.

Chiaruttini did not return a call for comment Monday.

The state owns the area of the Kernsville Dam and surrounding property. Blue Mountain Wildlife Inc. maintains the area. Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Co. also owns property in the area.

State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124, Rush Township, said even if the project is funded, demolition will not happen overnight.

“This is not going to happen three months from now,” he said.

He said the DEP is “well within their authority to do what they are doing” regarding the area.

The legislature will vote on the capital budget, something he called a wish list.

Knowles said he wanted to learn more about both sides of the dam problem to make an informed decision.

“There is a lot of people down there that don’t want to see that dam go,” he said.

Yet demolition would remove The Rock troubles.

Verdier said by “lowering the water level, you don’t have the thrill of The Rock anymore.”

Knowles requested a meeting in February to talk about what has been done so far at the area. He wants to make sure “that we do whatever we need to do so that people aren’t dying at The Rock.”

Many topics were discussed at the February meeting, but no decisions were made. A date for another meeting was not made. Knowles, Verdier, state police, Tilden Township Police Chief William F. McEllroy III, Jarrod Emes, deputy chief with the Hamburg Fire Company, and others attended the meeting.

Cheryl Haus, Tilden Township manager, was also at the meeting. She said the possible removal of the dam was discussed. A representative from the DEP mentioned it.

Greg Adams, board secretary and member of the board of directors for Blue Mountain Wildlife Inc., was also the meeting, which lasted up to an hour, something he described as informal. The consensus he got from the room was there was a “fair level of support for the removal of the dam.”

Adams said removing the dam will return the river to the way nature intended it.

Large boulders and numerous “no trespassing” signs were installed last year. Blue Mountain Wildlife Inc., at the request of the DEP, installed a gate preventing vehicular traffic. People drown or are injured at The Rock; last year, Essam Saba, 26, of Allentown, died after he struggled in the water while swimming across the Schuylkill River.

McEllroy said 10 Kutztown University students were cited for trespassing at The Rock on April 11.

“They were at The Rock jumping off,” he said, adding all students were from Pennsylvania.

Fines for trespassing are up to $300 and can be more than $400 with fines and costs. McEllroy said he is not surprised that people are still coming to The Rock.

“I expected to be citing more people,” he said.

While at the February meeting, McEllroy requested more signage at different areas.

His message is simple for those wanting to come to the area that is off-limits:“Do not show up here. It is trespassing. It’s private property.”

Emes agreed with McEllroy.

“The biggest thing is community awareness,” he said.

Knowles commended McEllroy for doing his job. There is a lot of signage at the site to tell people not to trespass, he said.

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